Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Greetings from the land of heat, humidity, and warm pool water {which makes swimming not near as much fun}! From the blogs I read it looks like most of y'all are melting too.

We've had a wonderful week so far. The girls and I took a "field trip" to nearby Ozark, AL yesterday and visited with Paula and hit up a few other little treasure chests. We had a delightful time. The girls were eager to pick out their own fabric for a nightgown. We're going to my parent's farm next week and they absolutely need {wink} new nightgowns to take.

I thought I'd take a second and show you how I made the roman shade in the ORANGE BATHROOM. I get a lot of emails asking how I did it, but I will warn you I didn't write down my directions as I went, so this is all from memory.

Just so we're clear: it's "fixed" meaning INOPERABLE and CAN'T RAISE OR LOWER. And this is a rough "tutorial" on how I made mine. I cut corners and used glue. Some seamstresses will raise their eyebrows and question my sanity. But it's EASY and it doesn't raise or lower so glue is OK in my opinion.

Ok, here goes:

I wanted my shade to appear to be "real & operable" so I made the shade itself the exact size of the window. This way it doesn't appear to be faux like it really is.

First, I measured my window from outside of trim to outside of trim and added a 1" seam allowance on both sides of the width, 1" to the top and 4" to the bottom. Which would give you this:

Once I cut out my fabric I turned the sides {R and L} under 1/2" and then 1/2" again and sewed a straight stitch. Then I did the same at the top. I DID NOT hem the bottom yet. I took a piece of blackout drapery lining and cut to the size of the shade less 1/2" on each side and less the hem allowance on the bottom. Then I HOT GLUED the blackout lining to my shade panel on the seams and then I hemmed the bottom by turning it under 1" and then up 3". I would only use hot glue if you use a "blackout lining". Please don't use glue if you line it with a fabric drapery lining. And please don't glue anywhere but on the edges where your seams are.

Then I added the folds.

As you can see they are uneven and not equally spaced. No one will ever notice besides me and all of you. I just pinched the fabric together and worked with it until I liked how it looked. I wanted it to hang at least half way down the top window pane when mounted at the crown molding.

First exhibit: This is how far down the window I wanted it to hang.

Second exhibit: Mounted at crown molding not window trim. We have small windows and low ceilings and I wanted to add height to the window so I hung the sucker much higher so the window will appear to be much larger than it really is. You should only do this if you use blackout lining otherwise you'll be found out when the sun shines and they can see the window behind your shade.

Once my pleats were where I wanted them I sewed them together with a straight stitch. Which by the way, getting the pleats where I wanted them was the hardest part. There is probably a math formula for such thing but I just "eyeballed" it.

Then my shade was done and it was time to mount it to my 1"x 2" that my husband cut to the width of the window {outside trim to outside trim} which should be the exact measurement of your shade. I used a staple gun and stapled the shade to the board and then mounted it to the wall using dryway screws and L brackets {see exhibit 2}.

Hey D! This is very much belated, but I was sending you happy birthday wishes from Decatur in my mind all day long and didn't get to the computer to be able to tell you on your big day. I hope it was a FABULOUS one, though! I just read about your strawberry cupcakes and white icing...it's not very often (ok, it's never) that I share any crafting or baking secrets with you, but I bet Betty Crocker's butter cream icing would be to die for on those!! Have you ever had it? It's all I ever use and it's off white so you can color it with food coloring if you need to. It's our favorite! Now you've got me wanting strawberry cupcakes...I think I'm going to the store right this second! Love from the McClendons!

Found your blog while searching 5dollardinner.com site for dinner ideas. Thank you for your blogs that give us a glimpse of a young family with such a bright future. Getting ready to send my twin 18-year old boys off to college in 2 different states and having a hard time but know God always watches over them and protects them.

Yipped Yippee Yippee! I've been waiting for this! I'm doing this this weekend! Seriously! I have this new house with all these curtainless (and even a few mini blindless) windows and my windows need eyebrows! :-) I'm so laughing at the eyeballing because my hubby is always getting so frustrated with me because i never measure! Thanks girl!

So much fun! This would be what the Nester calls a "mistreatment"- anything with hot glue and the term "eyeball it" counts! :) I love to eyeball things, too and find that I like them best that way. Drives Jason batty. Of course, it's adorable! Looks great! Thanks for the tutorial and especially the points about black out liner. I learned that one the hard way. Wish I would have known that 10 years ago!

My husband just asked why I screamed "YES!!!" It's because I am THRILLED you posted this tutorial. I have admired your roman shade curtains for so long and have even picked out the fabric necessary to copy them...but no idea how to sew them.

Miss Darby, you are the best. I thank you, my kitchen windows thank you and my husband thanks you (because now our kitchen windows will be covered...)

Thank you so much for posting this! While part of it is Greek to me, my mama can understand it all, I'm sure! She loves home decor sewing! Please visit my blog and read my latest post, then put us on your prayer list. Thanks!

Thanks for a great looking, easy to make project! I'll have to try this in my sunroom. We made the adjusting kind for my daughter's room and it was no small task. Your's look so much better than our's! I'm sew impressed! :)

You have done such a wonderful job with the window shade! I only wish I were at all talented with a sewing machine. The fabric you chose is so chic! I absolutely love it. Also, what a wonderful idea to hang it from the crown molding instead of the window trim - it fooled me! It really does make the window look much larger! Great work and thanks for sharing!

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Thanks sooo very much for this tutorial, I can't wait to make some for my kitchen! And other rooms, yay! Thanks also for the reminder that a blog is a blog and not real life, I'm always amazed at what others accomplish and wonder if that's what everyday is like for them.

I am using your tutorial and was curious. Did you hand sew the folds or use a machine? And did you sew in the middle of the fold so that they don't sag? Thought you'd like to know that this is my FIRST sewing machine project. You inspired me :)

Thanks for the tutorial. I just made one and it was not as easy as I thought it would be. You MUST make sure that your fabric is SQUARE - you can't just eyeball it. I cut a piece of cardboard a little wider than my shade and 4 inches tall (the length I wanted my folds to be) and used that to make sure that my folds were even all the way down the shade. It also helps to have one side of the shade lined up on the edge of the table so that you are not getting off track. I was pleased with the way it turned out and am now ready to face the task of an operable hobbled roman shade.

Thanks for the tutorial. I just made one and it was not as easy as I thought it would be. You MUST make sure that your fabric is SQUARE - you can't just eyeball it. I cut a piece of cardboard a little wider than my shade and 4 inches tall (the length I wanted my folds to be) and used that to make sure that my folds were even all the way down the shade. It also helps to have one side of the shade lined up on the edge of the table so that you are not getting off track. I was pleased with the way it turned out and am now ready to face the task of an operable hobbled roman shade.

Measure, cut, sew. Thanks for the tutorial. It looks easy to do as long as you know how to sew and measure right. I see that orange is how you themed your bathroom. That’s great as the warmth of the bright color would reflect the heat. Roxie @ WindowTreatmentsPhiladelphia.com

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About us...

I am a big sinner with a bigger Savior. I am a wife and a mother of 3 small children. I love to sew, craft, play house, and blog. I'm glad you're here... I hope you find something that inspires you!

This is my best attempt to capture the big and the small in our daily lives. Over the last few years the Lord has shown me the many rewards of transparency. What better way to be transparent than to share my life with others! It is my prayer that my "conversations will be full of grace and seasoned with salt" Colossians 4:6

I will also remind you this a BLOG, this is NOT real life. We don't sit around craft, bake and smile for pictures all day long. We do strive to glorify God and recognize our deep need of a Savior. What comfort we find in knowing that our debts have been paid and we have been set free.